Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rhodium Coins Coming Soon!

Rhodium Price and Rhodium Volatility

This blog is dedicated mainly to palladium, however, you could say it's a "volatile precious metals site." The more volatile the metal, the less popular it is. In order of volatility, and popularity, are these metals: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, and then, rhodium.

Of the preceding when dealing with price, rhodium bullion is generally the most expensive. As I write this it's exactly $1050 an ounce. It was $1100 a couple days ago. The platinum price is right around there too, but, when rhodium moves, it moves! It never moves less than $50 at a time. It was $750 in December. When Au climbed from $850 to $1000 the price Rhodium price jumped from $750 to $1100.

Rhodium Coin and Rhodium Bars

What does a rhodium coin look like? Well, I don't know, they've never been made. Rhodium bars don't yet exist, nor to rhodium coins. Wouldn't it be nice to buy a 1 oz rhodium coin or 1 oz rhodium bar? I thought so too, but you can't. The only way you can buy it is in its raw, flake form, called rhodium sponge (rhodium article with pictures). If you were to buy rhodium 1 ounce, it would likely be in a plastic container, similar to how they sell Au flake, but it there would be some small particles and some broken pieces.

Rhodium Pieces

Au Flake in Vials (C481025A-77-t.on-C23-94)

Small Rhodium Mint

However, today I talked to a guy who owns a small mint, and his company is working to make rhodium coins! Rhodium one ounce coins would be ideal, and while possible, he said a one gram rhodium coin is more likely. The coins will be rhodium bullion coins, though, and they will not have much numismatic value, i.e., they'll be very similar to rhodium bars, which also don't exist.

Rhodium Bullion Coins Availability

He assured me that the invest rhodium coins will be ready for sale within a few months! He also said that by then the spot rhodium price might be over $2000 (It's around $1000 today). However, the buy rhodium online is the price of only a contract that you own the metal. To actually take delivery of the metal you must pay fabrication charges since for a rhodium mint is very difficult. And, these charges will be 170% of the spot price rhodium invest. Ouch! I hear that there are 1 oz rhodium coins and rhodium bars available made by other, smaller mints, but as of now I have no reliable information. I've sent out a couple emails and am waiting for a response!

Rhodium: Physical Properties

The owner of the mint told me that physical rhodium isn't as brittle as people say it is. Sure, it will break if you take a 1 ounce rhodium piece between two pair of pliers and bend, but it won't break if you drop in from a couple inches on a wooden table. So, it can be made into 99.99% pure rhodium bullion, but it just costs more than the other metals. (This reason, BTW, is likely why it's so hard to find palladium near spot prices.) So, the rhodium bullion coins will be available, but shipped within plastic cases to keep those who are less careful from breaking them

What Will the Rhodium Bullion Coin Look Like?

Like I said, it's not a government making the coin, it's a small melter--a small company--and it will have the company name on it. They will be 1 gram, not one ounce. That's disappointing, but good in a way, as we can only spend a little money to own rhodium bullion. One gram is really tiny. They'll be smaller than a dime by far. And, while I do know the name of the company and what the coins will likely look like, as I've seen their other coins, as of now, until they're out, I can't leak that information. Sorry guys!

Bullion Rhodium Price

If these coins were available today, dividing the spot price of an ounce ($1050) by 31.1 (31.1g=1 oz), we get around $33/gram. However, remember I said we have to pay 170% melter's fee? (It's not that they're greedy, it's actually that they had to put a lot of work into melting rhodium bullion down.) So, 1.7 x $33 = $56. So, for now, $56 per tiny 1 gram coin. If you buy 31 of these, you'll have an ounce, and it will cost you $1700. If rhodium doubles by then, you pay double that.

Let's hope I have enough spare cash to get some of these when they're out! I'll let you know! Thanks for looking!

11 comments:

If it's a 1 gram rhodium coin, do you think that means it's combined with other metals? Or is the whole coin 1 gram and extremely tiny I've never seen a 1 gram coin or bar in real life, only in photos so I can't imagine the size.

Hi, Mild. Thanks for the comment. Well, I've seen a 1 gram coin myself, but since I know it's not financially smart to do so, I've never bought any. Here's an example of a 1 gram gold coin. If you think one gram is small you should see this, a 1/4 gram palladium coin! The one gram I saw must have been really thin because it wasn't too much smaller than a dime. I didn't check its thickness though. 1/4 gram might be as thin and probably the diameter of a pencil eraser! And here's something to think about: they actually make one troy GRAIN gold coins! That's 1/15 of a gram! Minuscule! 1/8 inch. About the diameter of a pencil LEAD!

edzillion, hey, thanks for the link to the chart. Pretty handy! I'll have to play around with it a little more when I have a chance. Anonymous, you're right, Cohen does have something up on their site about rhodium! Hopefully we'll see some competing companies making the rhodium coin and maybe, just maybe, price won't be double spot!

Hello,Any of you experiencing abnormal shipping delays with Cohens Mint? I ordered it late May 2009 and now it's almost mid-July. My payment has been cleared through Paypal; but rhodium has not come yet. I checked the tracking number, but no indication that USPS has received the items from the Cohens Mint. I tried contacting the Cohens Mint but just the answering machine. I left some message in their voicemail, but no answer at all. This doesn't sound right.

I just happen to find while hiking a rock that I thought was gold or fools gold and had it sent out to test it and found out that it was pure rhodium. I am learning that it a rare metal and my find is a good find

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Stop back often to see new entries on the the price movement of palladium coins and palladium bullion. Rhodium coins, rhodium bullion, platinum coins, mint palladium, coins palladium....It's March 2009 as I write this, and now is the time to buy!